Fluid, Electrolyte Replacement Successful in Ebola Cases

(HealthDay News) — Aggressive fluid and electrolyte replacement successfully improved the condition of two patients with Ebola virus disease (EVD), according to case reports published online November 12 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

G. Marshall Lyon, MD, from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and colleagues describe their experience with two American health care workers who contracted EVD in Liberia and were transferred to the United States for ongoing medical care. One patient had also been diagnosed with malaria, which was treated early in the course of EVD.

The researchers note that both patients had considerable intravascular volume depletion and marked electrolyte abnormalities. Aggressive supportive measures of hydration were undertaken as well as electrolyte correction. Clinical improvement in the patients' condition correlated with a decline in the amount of virus detected in the plasma.

"Our limited experience with two patients cannot be extrapolated to all patients with EVD," the authors write. "However, intensive care nursing, aggressive oral and intravenous rehydration, electrolyte supplementation, and transfusion of blood products appeared to be critical for a positive outcome in our patients with EVD."